And So, the 'Caged Bird' Flies
by Snowshinobi
Summary: Summary: Motion sickness may not be so bad after all . . .


3/25/12

And So, the 'Caged Bird' Flies

**Disclaimer**:Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto

**Type of story**: Depending on what you find funny, this may or may not be a humorous story. Subtle humor at best (cuz Neji acting like a petulant 3-year-old always makes _me_ smirk!). This fic has a sweeter ending than originally intended, though (sigh, as all my fics do . . . I just can't write non-sweet NejiTen fics and NejiTen is all I've written for! ;D!)

**A/N**: At first I was gonna do a humor only fic involving a five-year-old kicking the back of Neji's airplane seat (I have a specific 'little-kid-death-glare' specifically designed to scare off those annoying little boogers!), have Tenten reprimand him and even go as far as switch seats with him, only to give the kid a piece of her mind (yell at him!) when he tried the kicking thing on her (Neji'd be like; O.O . . . "Not fair, Tenten!"). But no, my brain wanted something sweeter, so I present to you this semi-funny but ends-up-all-sweet fic! Enjoy!

Neji Hyuga did not like this one bit.

For one thing, the sensation of floating weightlessly in the air inside an ironically heavily-built aircraft definitely messed up his sense of gravity. He, a ninja and a Hyuga at that should, of all people should not have been bothered by heights; what with the bird comparisons(1), leaping from tree to tree when on missions and exceptionally high leaping ability - but _this_was on a whole nother scale.

Neji had _never_gone this high before. Ever. Personally, he'd found it rather alarming to watch the solid dependable ground gradually become smaller and smaller below this hunk of metal referred to as an 'airplane'. When he'd lectured about his being a branch family member, a 'caged bird', and never being able to be free and fly, he had never expected Lee and Gai-sensai to seriously go out and find a way to allow him to really fly.

It was only supposed to be a _metaphor_. But trust Lee and Gai-sensai to take Neji's 'caged bird' speech _literally_.

So here he was, strapped to a unnervingly 'furry' velvet-covered seat that also doubled as an inflation device (he didn't buy that for a minute), his sense of balance dashed to pieces and no clue where in the freaking world he was; stupid puny, fogged-up-due-to-altitude windows whose highly dysfunctional shades hardly lifted all the way up anyways.

Neji was seriously starting to regret refusing the motion-sickness pill Tenten'd offered him earlier - those invisible air currents were much more brutal than he'd anticipated. He tilted his head to look at her, expecting to see a similarly exasperated expression on her face, but no. Head resting in her palm in a relaxed fashion as she gazed out the mist-coated window, she appeared to be quite- . . . content. Across the aisle, true to form, Gai-sensai and Lee were yakking away, something about the clouds that were unable to be made out in any case. Neji narrowed his eyes unhappily. Great. So he was alone in his suffering.

As he continued to stare at Tenten, feeling betrayed that she was leaving him behind in the land of the sane and was actually enjoying herself, she finally noticed someone was watching her. Tenten's eyes swiveled around to meet Neji's and proceeded to roll at his sour expression. Wordlessly, she reached into her bag and fished out the bottle of motion-sickness pills. He was already shaking his head at her before she even opened the lid.

"Come on, Neji." Tenten sighed. "Its not a matter of 'I'm-a-Hyuga-prodigy-so-I-don't-need -medicine', it's a matter of 'just-take-the-darned-pill-so-you-don't-feel-like-throwing-up-every-time- the-plane-jolts'! Swallowing a tiny clump of powder that'll make the entire remainder of the flight exceedingly more bearable it isn't being 'weak', ok?"

Neji simply "Hn"-ed at her. With an expression similar to the one worn by fed-up parents when their three-year old is throwing a temper tantrum, Tenten placed the pill on a napkin, reached over to the pouch in front of Neji's seat for his water bottle, and put them on his tray-table.

"Take. It. You'll feel better in no time, trust me." She eyed him expectantly.

Neji's frown flickered dangerously close to a petulant pout. He didn't need his teammate telling him what was best for him. Crossing his arms, Neji pointedly looked away with a grumpy "Hn".

Tenten let her head fall back to hit the back of her seat, her vision angling skyward. Her gaze shifted back to the window again, squinting to make out any traces of land far down below.

Once he was certain Tenten wasn't looking, Neji quickly snatched the pill and drowned it with a gulp of water. He sat back, waiting for the off-putting hovering sensation to disappear.

" . . . You realize that stuff can take up to an hour to kick in, right?" Tenten remarked. Neji turned sharply to meet her mirth-filled gaze as she tossed and caught the bottle in her hand. "That's why it says "Take 1/2 an hour to one hour before activity". She smirked as realization dawned on him. "Should've taken it back when we were still on solid ground!" Tenten murmured grinningly in a sing-song voice.

Gritting his teeth in annoyance at his lack of forethought, Neji closed his eyes irritatedly and sank a little lower in his seat. Just then, as if to mock his pain, the aircraft suddenly jolted to the left. Neji felt himself slide violently towards the window seat, and having nothing to hold on to since Tenten'd pushed up the arm rest dividing their seats - she'd said she hated feeling cornered - he crashed right into Tenten.

Mortified, he hurriedly tried to get up only to slip again when the plane dipped even further to the left. To his surprise, Tenten didn't immediately shove him off as he'd thought she would; in fact, she'd caught him as easily as she had that pill bottle and firmly held on to - heck, basically _hugged_ - him until the aircraft righted itself. He froze for a second; Tenten was _hugging_ him. Hugging _him_. And it felt - _Well, it feels rather nice, actually . . . _Neji thought to himself, amazed. Of course, she let go as soon as the plane became level again, and a slightly flustered Hyuga swiftly scooted back to back to his original seat, blinking a tad dazedly at the rug. Tenten bent down and cocked her head so as to catch Neji's gaze.

"Don't worry, so long as you're balance is off due to that pill not taking full effect yet, I'll catch you!" She winked at him, and he fixed a withering glare on her. "Ok ok, I know it was just because the plane tilted _left_you needed me to cushion your fall, and that your ninja balance is just fine!" she laughed, and still giggling she returned to her futile search for any clues indicating whether or not they were flying over land or sea.

Collecting himself, Neji analysed the last few seconds in his mind. He just discovered he'd genuinely liked the feel of Tenten's arms around his chest, the secure safe feeling he got being held in them . . . _No. I do not need 'protection'._ _If anything, _Tenten_ ought to be the one wanting to be shielded _(she'd skewer him if she ever figured out he'd come to this sexist conclusion, he knew). But he still couldn't shake off the memory of how . . . comforting it had been, being in the hands of someone he could count on to ensure he'd be safe. Neji stole a lightning swift glance at Tenten - who was still smudging the window's surface with her fingers in an effort to clear the glass even though the fog was on the _outside_. . . - and couldn't help himself. The corners of his lips curled up just the tiniest fraction, and Neji felt his mood skyrocket up the the same altitude as the plane he and the person he trusted most were stuck on.

**A/N:** Ahhh, sweet NejiTen-ness. I am now grinning like an idiot - visual aid: **:D**! Please review, if you would be so kind; as usual, all feedback is greatly appreciated!


End file.
